Guardian Cub Coming to Blizzard Pet Store Soon

Blizzard's finally putting that model we datamined back in 4.2 to use--the Guardian Cub will be available on their virtual pet store shortly!

An interesting thing to note is that this pet will be bind-on-equip. It will be interesting to see if this ends up going well or badly for Blizzard. On one hand, it means people will no longer try to sell them in trade chat as potential scams; on the other, it allows people to essentially buy gold.

Coming soon to a Pet Store near you: the new and titanically cute Guardian Cub companion. You’ve soared across Azeroth on the majestic Winged Guardian. Soon, you'll be able to purchase a pint-sized Guardian of the Titans sidekick to accompany you on your adventures.

Stunning good looks and adorable, supersized eyes aren’t all this new pet has going for it. The Guardian Cub is also the Pet Store's first tradable pet, meaning it can be swapped between characters in-game or given as a gift to guildmates, friends, family, or that special someone -- no adoption papers necessary. Due to his finicky nature, each Guardian Cub will only give its allegiance to one owner, meaning it’s a one-time-use pet that permanently binds to a single character. Be sure to choose a master wisely.

Look for the Guardian Cub to arrive in the Blizzard Store in the weeks ahead -- in the meantime, we've prepped a mini-FAQ to explain how this flying friend will differ from other Pet Store companions.

Q: How does the Guardian Cub pet work? How is it different from other Pet Store pets?

Unlike the other Pet Store companions, the Guardian Cub is a tradable, one-time-use pet that permanently binds to a single character upon use. When you purchase the Guardian Cub from the online store, the character you designate will receive a bind-on-use item to carry in his or her inventory. You can either use the item yourself to permanently add the pet to your character's collection (consuming the item in the process), or -- after a brief initial cooldown period -- you can trade the item to another player so he or she can add it to one of their character's collections. Note that once the pet has been added to a character's Companions list, it can no longer be traded, so make sure you're giving the cub a happy home.

Q: Will I be able to carry more than one Guardian Cub at a time?

While a character can only have one Guardian Cub in his or her Companions list, you can have as many in your inventory as you like. Please note that Guardian Cub items do not stack, so each one will take up a bag or bank slot.

Q: How much will the Guardian Cub cost in the Pet Store?

The Guardian Cub will be priced the same as the other Pet Store pets ($10 USD). All sales of the Guardian Cub are final -- no refunds will be given once a purchase is made.

Q: Why did you decide to make the Guardian Cub tradable?

Since the introduction of the Pet Store, many players have been asking for ways to get the companions we offer there without having to spend real-world cash. By making the Guardian Cub tradable (much like the BoE mounts from the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game), players interested in the new pet will have fun, alternative in-game ways to get one. In addition to trading the pet, players can give the Guardian Cub as a gift to another character for a special occasion; guild leaders can use them to reward members for a job well done; and so on. We also hope this change will help reduce the number of incidents of scamming via trading for invalid pet codes.

Q: Could I put the Guardian Cub up on the auction house to try to make some gold if I wanted to?

While our goal is to offer players alternative ways to add a Pet Store pet to their collection, we’re ok with it if some players choose to use the Guardian Cub as a safe and secure way to try to acquire a little extra in-game gold without turning to third-party gold-selling services. However, please keep in mind that there's never any guarantee that someone will purchase what you put up for sale in the auction house, or how much they'll pay for it. Also, it’s important to note that we take a firm stance against buying gold from outside sources because in most cases, the gold these companies offer has been stolen from compromised accounts. (You can read more about our stance here.) While some players might be able to acquire some extra gold by putting the Guardian Cub in the auction house, that’s preferable to players contributing to the gold-selling “black market” and account theft.

Q: Are you changing the other available Pet Store pets (e.g. Lil' Ragnaros, the Pandaren Monk) to work this way?

No, the other available Pet Store pets will continue to work as they always have.

Q: What about future Pet Store pets?

It's too early to say how we'll handle future Pet Store pets. We made this change in response to feedback from players looking for alternate ways to get the Pet Store pets, and we're always looking into other opportunities for improvement. We're interested in hearing what players think of the Guardian Cub when it launches, and we hope you'll have fun with this new flying friend.

Comments

Comment by kanivara

on 2011/10/10 13:15:08

My litt

Although I like the new companion's appearance (3d model) the 2D photo for it looks so much like those stupid internet ponies that have been spreading around like wildfire lately. I can only think they either have a 16 year old boy on there that visits anonymous image boards to much or needs to grow up when they designed this.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is actually a TV show.

Comment by diabeticjedi

on 2011/10/10 13:21:47

This is just dumb, I mean with the other pets at least for your $10 you will get the pet for ALL your characters, and now you get it for just one for the same price?

if it attaches to your account afterwards or even becomes BOA this would be ok but this is just retarded

Comment by Inhaler

on 2011/10/10 13:55:43

This is a really bad decision. I'd rather it remain Bind-on-Account, I love getting these pets for all of my characters. Now if I want it for more than one character I have to shell out more than $10.

Stupid decision.

Comment by OverZealous

on 2011/10/10 14:31:26

That's... so cute T_T

I shall refrain from giving my opinion on this being tradeable, though - hot topic, it appears.

Comment by Rainemard

on 2011/10/10 15:23:17

I don't have a problem with adding another $10 pet, especially if it matches a mount, that's cool.

I don't have a problem with making it tradeable in-game. They already do that with some TCG rewards.

I don't have a problem with making it a one-time use thing. It'd be hard to have a tradeable item bind to battle.net account from inside the game.

I DO have a problem with it being a one-time use item while keeping the price at $10. It's just another blatant example of Blizzard seeing how far they can push the "Official" RMT envelope. I don't plan to get it regardless, but the fact that it probably will still sell well despite the price, makes me afraid of it setting a bad precedent.

Comment by ElhonnaDS

on 2011/10/10 15:29:57

I haven't been playing WoW enough lately to justify spending money on this pet. However, I do have enough gold on my main to probably pick this up at the AH. I have never bought or sold gold, but I have bought TCG items for gold, and I don't see this as being much different (other than being more accessible and cheaper).

Honestly, if blizzard keeps releasing items like this, it will pull a lot of teeth out of the gold trading market. Why risk your account and credit information with some shady website, when for 10 bucks blizzard will let you pick up an item that will sell for 5k or 10k gold? Plus, it should make people who have been complaining about having to spend real money for game pets very happy.

I don't think it's a bad idea.

Comment by Nagousta

on 2011/10/10 15:48:34

It does feel like many of Blizzard's practices are moving into a grey area of potentially shady money-grabbing. I did feel that it was pretty much okay, but I think further moves like this one are becoming more and more risky.

If I'm not mistaken, this (however indirectly) constitutes buying an in-game advantage (of gold - which can be spent on BoE epics, for example). This directly conflicts with their original comments about never selling more than just cosmetic, vanity items.

Does this matter though? The game is still the best MMO out there, with top-notch end-game and great levelling. I'm certainly not going to quit the game over this move. I doubt anyone else is. And if some people who play the game can get more joy out of it by buying (indirect) gold, then fair enough - let them.

At the root of it, though, I am still surprised to see this sort of selling in a subscription-based service. I guess it could be that the game has gotten bigger - and rather than hiking up monthly premiums by a few pennies for each of us, they are looking for alternate revenue. That's fine, as long as it's always going towards top-quality games.

It's not even primarily a subscription based service any more anyway. Players can play entirely for free up to level twenty, with few restrictions. Levels above that can be paid for separately, along with a bunch of other vanity items, and now (indirect) gold (and likely more later). Last I checked, that's extremely similar to how LotRO works.

Comment by rudini

on 2011/10/10 16:25:55

money whoring here

Yes it would just be stupid for a company to figure out ways to make more money.

Comment by Problimatic

on 2011/10/10 16:37:02

I actually think this is a good idea. It provides a legitimate way for people to get a blizzard store pet ingame without having to shell out the cash, or technically breaking the ToS with under the table deals that could be scams. I'd like to see more of this in the future and a possible price drop on the cost of the pet since it is only for one character. Though I suppose I'd much rather spend a few thousand in game gold for the next pet for my girl rather than spending the money. Just my opinion on the matter.

Comment by TagraNar

on 2011/10/10 16:51:42

money whoring here

Yes it would just be stupid for a company to figure out ways to make more money.There's making money, and there's being a greedy cash-grab that milks the playerbase for all it's worth.

This is approaching the latter.

Comment by Usury

on 2011/10/10 17:00:26

It does feel like many of Blizzard's practices are moving into a grey area of potentially shady money-grabbing. I did feel that it was pretty much okay, but I think further moves like this one are becoming more and more risky.

If I'm not mistaken, this (however indirectly) constitutes buying an in-game advantage (of gold - which can be spent on BoE epics, for example). This directly conflicts with their original comments about never selling more than just cosmetic, vanity items.

Does this matter though? The game is still the best MMO out there, with top-notch end-game and great levelling. I'm certainly not going to quit the game over this move. I doubt anyone else is. And if some people who play the game can get more joy out of it by buying (indirect) gold, then fair enough - let them.

At the root of it, though, I am still surprised to see this sort of selling in a subscription-based service. I guess it could be that the game has gotten bigger - and rather than hiking up monthly premiums by a few pennies for each of us, they are looking for alternate revenue. That's fine, as long as it's always going towards top-quality games.

It's not even primarily a subscription based service any more anyway. Players can play entirely for free up to level twenty, with few restrictions. Levels above that can be paid for separately, along with a bunch of other vanity items, and now (indirect) gold (and likely more later). Last I checked, that's extremely similar to how LotRO works.

My mind is blown that people are still blissfully unaware of the WoW TCG. Stop making mountains out of mole hills.

Comment by Interest

on 2011/10/10 17:00:29

That's... so cute T_T

I shall refrain from giving my opinion on this being tradeable, though - hot topic, it appears.

Well I have no problem with that.

The issue I think that's important is the price is too high for a single pet that is completely unbound but can only be used once.

Comment by Lolus

on 2011/10/10 17:12:22

15k tops on my server, more would make buying the pet online cheaper

Comment by rudini

on 2011/10/10 18:02:55

money whoring here

Yes it would just be stupid for a company to figure out ways to make more money.There's making money, and there's being a greedy cash-grab that milks the playerbase for all it's worth.

This is approaching the latter.

How is it "milking the playerbase for all it's worth?"

You have the choice of whether or not to buy the pet for real cash or from another player for ingame gold. The pet is a vanity item. I really doubt the entire playerbase feels the need to obtain this pet. Basically there are two types of people who will get it: the pet collectors and those who think it is a cute little addition to the game.

People who complain about greed and companies trying to make more money in a perfectly legal and acceptable way need to move to some hippie commune and find the meaning of life in a free love drum circle.

Comment by Problimatic

on 2011/10/10 18:16:05

15k tops on my server, more would make buying the pet online cheaper

I doubt it would be worth that after the first couple weeks. I got my girlfriend's Nightsaber Cub code for 4k, and the code on WoW-TCG site was slightly over 10 dollars at that time. Once the initial hype dies down so will the price.

Comment by goblinbee

Comment by Lolus

Pet won't affect gold market for more than a few weeks as stated above, and it certainly won't affect the rich TCG loot market which is silently allowed by Blizzard

Comment by elionor

on 2011/10/10 18:54:46

So I guess this means that winged guardians can reproduce, somehow lol.

this again? bro, there's also a mini kelthuzad pet, a mini ragnaros pet, a mini XT-deconstructor pet, and other equally imposible pets as well.

That doesn't mean Kelthuzad had a baby lichified, or that ragnaros got some leid, or that the XT boy had a boy-boy.

Blizzstore pets are NOT canon. Heck, some of those mounts are hard enough to fit in a canon story as it is.

he was joking lol

Comment by elionor

on 2011/10/10 19:09:55

its sad how bad the economy has gotten people will throw a hissy fit over an OPTIONAL 10 dollar charge and lets not pea around the bush this is a legitimate way to buy gold 90% of the people who buy the pet to sell it at least at launch that is the only purpose this pet will serve once it is no longer worth to sell then people will keep it for them self's

Comment by Problimatic

on 2011/10/10 19:43:13

Plus to those saying this is "buying gold from Blizzard" this isn't even introducing any money into the economy. Its using already existent money and distributing it throughout. If Blizzard were selling gold it would introduce thousands of gold into the economy with no leash. This literally doesn't produce any gold at all. It simply distributes already existing gold. People not having to spend real life money for in game items is bad?